Established in 2014, and registered in South Africa, The Global Interfaith Network (GIN or GIN-SSOGIE) operates at the intersections of faith, gender, and sexuality, dedicated to advancing progressive, Global South-centred narratives rooted in faith and culture. These narratives are designed to promote gender justice and bridge the divide between faith-based and secular rights discourses.
As a global network representing LGBTIQ+/gender and sexual minority people of faith, GIN is Global South-based and led, with a mission to amplify the voices of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics (SOGIESC) communities of faith. This work aims to counter anti-rights and anti-gender actors while building the capacity of gender and sexual minorities, as well as women and girls, across the Global South and East. The goal is to enable these groups to assert their rightful place, particularly within faith communities, and advocate for narratives that reflect lived experiences and uphold human rights.
To this end, GIN builds the capacity of people of faith of diverse SOGIESC to integrate their spirituality, sexuality and gender and claim space and agency within their religious traditions, and develops and disseminates media and resources amplifying the voices and perspectives of SOGIESC communities of faith and their allies.
In accordance with its mandate from members (600+ both individuals and organisations), GIN advocates globally for the human rights of gender and sexual minorities and women and girls. This advocacy seeks to address the impacts of patriarchal and colonial norms on brown bodies, female bodies, and the bodies of sexual and gender-diverse individuals.
Intersectionality remains a cornerstone of GIN’s approach to advocacy across all levels, ensuring that the complexity of identities and experiences is centred in its work.
GIN-SSOGIE addresses misinformation about gender and sexuality within diverse faith traditions while collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders and allies. These include governments, civil society organisations, and faith-based and secular social justice movements at local, regional, and international levels. Such collaborations extend to partnerships with movements focused on women’s rights, sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and HIV advocacy.
GIN continues to aim for a just world in which the dignity, faith, spirituality, and human rights of persons of all sexes, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions are honoured, supported and protected.
